Two nurses at Nanyuki Teaching and Referral Hospital in Laikipia County have lost their jobs after a 58-year-old woman died at the hospital after helplessly seeking for treatment at the health facility.

It later emerged that the nurses were unavailable to attend to the patient since they were at their colleague’s birthday party within the hospital’s premises.

The two nurses have been sacked by the Laikipia County government following an uproar from the deceased’s family and the members of the public.

According to the deceased’s son, his plea to the Nanyuki hospital staff went unheeded, even as his mother’s condition deteriorated until she died.

The heartbroken son noted that his mother had been taken to the Nanyuki Teaching and Referral hospital’s emergency unit on Monday and several lab tests had been prescribed. The mother was also in dire need of blood transfusion.

However, they were told to wait as nurses and laboratory attendants attended the party.

On Friday, the county health authorities said they had conducted investigations and noted that while the patient “had multiple medical complications… there was a significant level of laxity and rudeness from our laboratory staff”.